This invention relates to a surgical drape for use in conjunction with limb surgery. More particularly it relates to a surgical drape with an extremity pouch for receiving a limb should it become necessary to extend the limb off and below the top of the operating table during a surgical procedure.
Surgical drapes are used to isolate the operative site from the remainder of the patient in an effort to keep the site sterile and reduce the chances of infection or contamination. In hip, leg, knee, shoulder and arm surgery one type of surgical drape includes a large main sheet which is designed to completely cover the patient and hang down over the sides of the operating table. To expose the limb or joint for surgery, the main sheet is provided with a fenestration through which the limb is extended from the underside of the drape. Two examples of such drapes are the Orthopedic Pack I and Orthopedic Pack V drape assemblies manufactured and sold by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. To further isolate the limb, additional draping may be used around the limb itself. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,769,971 to Collins, 3,934,582 to Gorrie, 3,968,792 to Small, 3,989,040, 4,253,451 to Solomon, 4,308,864 to Small, et al. and 4,679,552 to Caspari. Limb drapes such as are shown in the previously cited 3,934,582; 3,968,792 and 3,989,040 references are sometimes referred to as stockinettes due to their crude resemblance to a stocking and a similar method of donning. Alternatively, the stockinette may be directly attached to the main sheet about the fenestration as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,093 to Goodman.
Limb surgery, and in particular hip surgery, often requires that the limb be moved into a number of positions. As part of good sterile operating room procedure or technique, the limb should normally remain at or above the plane defined by the top of the operating table as all parts of the operating room, personnel and equipment below and outside this plane are considered to be non-sterile. This is despite the fact that all fixed equipment is kept as clean as possible and all surgical tools, gowns and drapes are sterilized prior to their use. Ever mindful of the requirements of good sterile technique, operating room personnel find it sometimes necessary to extend the limb over and off the operating table. In so doing, the limb may extend below or off the top of the table and therefore below the plane of what is considered the sterile operating room field. During this time the limb may come in contact with the gowns of operating room personnel as they work near or against the operating table. This in turn increases the risk that the limb may be contaminated by such contact. As a result there is a need for a drape design which will maintain the limb in as sterile a condition as is possible while it is off the operating room table.
With the rise in concern over the transmission of infectious diseases through such body fluids as blood, there is also an increased concern in protection of operating room personnel from such fluids. To help protect against such situations, gowns worn by operating room personnel are often supplemented in the chest area by a fluid impervious material such as a plastic film laminated to the gown material. While these laminated areas provide greater resistance to liquid strike-through, they also make the gown hotter and more uncomfortable to wear. As a result, the use of such plastic film is limited to the chest area and does not always extend below waist level. Consequently, should operating room personnel contact a limb which is hanging below the operating table, the surgical gown may provide only limited resistance to fluid strike-through. Therefore, there is a need for a surgical drape with increased protection and isolation of limbs during surgery.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a surgical drape for limb surgery which has one or more extremity pouches located laterally on a portion of the drape which hangs below the table.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an extremity pouch which has one or more detachable sides to permit easy insertion of the limb into the pouch and subsequent extraction therefrom.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from a further review of the following specification, drawings and claims.